Guangzhou’s newly opened Woman’s and Pediatrics Center. Not enough? How about a nighttime aerial taken from my personal helicopter：

Here’s 9 (personal) tips for the Expat Go-getter in China:

1. New in town? Find your fellow countrymen/women.

If you did not sail from a country currently torn apart by civil war, chances are, that your fellows in a land away from home would have a few things in common - language, topics, taste in food etc. Chances are, that they would also be willing and happy to help you adapt to the new surroundings, and expand into social circles. Trust is the warm welcoming gift you receive from your fellows in a foreign land, and gratitude goes to your government who made it harmoniously so.

 
2. Variety of Social Circles

Once you’ve found your own countryfellows cliques, that’s not the end. There lots of peoples in China. Locals, locals from Guangzhou, inner China city migrants, northerners, and other expats. Make friends with them! A variety of social circles means that you get to experience/enjoy different day/night outs with different groups of people, you get a variety of business contacts and connections, and you get to sample all kinds of food.

 
3. Join a local Online Social Network
If you’re not the kind who makes friends with random patrons at a pub, the online social network channel works well. You get to preview photos, track chatter and view their relationship status, amongst other information, before you actually say “Hi”. It worked for me. I joined GZStuff, I made my first friends there, and things just took off from there and I had a really colourful year in Guangzhou. But be social media savvy, if you’re not too sure what that means, sit back, relax, and observe before you engage in any online hihi-ing or banter.

 
4. Volunteer to serve in your country’s Chamber of Commerce or club in China

This can be a quick ladder climb to a higher social status and networking connections, if you are sincere in your efforts to help the organisation.

Once you’ve consolidated your base of fellow countrymen support, and get along well with them, it’s time to take the home country connection one step further.

Typically, countries with a considerable business presence in China would have an official Chamber of Commerce, and sometimes a social club. These organisations rely on voluntary efforts of fellow countrymen to make business networking events, social parties, sports events and charity events happen. These volunteers are usually nominated and/or elected into an executive committee to serve for a period of 1 year. With good support from strategic friends, a newcomer should be able to get onboard to contribute.

The most tangible return is the exposure with status that comes with it. I served as the Vice-President of the Guangzhou Singapore Club, and I got to meet successful business folks and political representatives, and had the chance to be involved in the organising of small and big events. This, for a newcomer, is quite a deal. When you are at your regular business networking sessions, you’re no longer this newcomer who works at this particular company. You’re also the key appointment holder of this particular offcial organisation representing your country in China. That’s something. You’re somebody. It also gives you a fuller profile, that you’re not just a company man, but you’re a social and society man.

 
5. Network Network Network!
If you start off teaching English and seek a different progression, network! If you play classical piano, network! If you work at an night entertainment joint, network! If you don’t network, may your rabbits keep falling from the tree.

 
6. Decent alcohol tolerance

(Disclaimer: I am not advocating the consumption of alcohol as the way to greater career heights, although you can get high. If you’re under 18 or driving, please just drink Wahaha.) What I’m saying is, maintain acquired sobriety when consuming alcohol with business people.

Oftentimes in China, drink and business go hand in hand. Having decent alcohol tolerance helps you remain calm and collected, and maintain strategic plans while others lose focus. At one end of the table, a sober person also recognises and gives credit to the other drinking but sober person. They can tell that this person has is well sorted out, this impression can translate into heightened business dealings.

 
7. Don’t be pissed at life

Life is tough, the weather is hot, we don’t have to make life tougher and hotter.

Sometimes when someone spits near you, cuts your queue, or unintentionally pushes you on crowded public transport, it’s OK to just laugh it off and let be. I do that sometimes, it’s really not the huge loss of dignity if you don’t react. Live and let live. No need to fight every battle that life drops on your path. An eye for an eye makes the world go blind. See the bigger picture of your life in China. If life gives you lemons, add lemon to herbal tea.

 
8. Engage locals to help you navigate
Sometimes at a busy road where there’s an apparent zebra crossing (which drivers ignore), a newcomer like me might not know when to cross and avoid causing damage to oncoming cars in the process of doing so. So, this newcomer (like me) would sometimes wait for a local person, sometimes an old woman, sometimes some schoolgirls, to cross the road. They just walk and vehicles would slow down for them. We follow, and we get to the other side of the road, protected and safe.

The same principle applies to marketing efforts in your business. If you lack understanding in the risky business terrain, spend some money, engage a local to help you navigate. Expats can provide new perspectives and innovations but understanding of local culture is the foundation for everything new to be based upon.

 
9. Colours of the world
It would be inaccurate to assume people of some colour are out to scam you, or squeeze the tightest deal out of you, and some other western-light coloured people must be trustworthy. There’s good and bad in everyone - there’s a little bad in good people and there’s a little good in bad people. Don’t judge based on colour, take pinches of salt, manage expectations, and learn to manage people to bring good unto both parties.

 
Feel free to add on.

*I’ll still be writing for Guangzhouer.

The little gifts life gives you.

For years, the universities had all been applying for funding to expand and build new facilities. Why not grant them all their funding at once in the same place? The students could have a sense of community between the schools. Resources could be shared. The isolation from urban temptation would encourage studying. Guangzhou could have a competitive 21st century higher education megalopolis. It was an enormous, ambitious endeavor. Years later, the results are in. This major undertaking is already yielding fruits such as this online post making the rounds:

Guangzhou University Center Female Student Body Evaluation

Sun Yat-Sen University
Well-educated and cultivated. Tends to be emotionally sensitive. Average appearance in general. Not so sexy.

South China Normal University
Morally righteous. Has some substance. But, they look and dress a bit country. Not really on the pretty level.

Guangdong University of Foreign Studies
Modern thinking. Open-minding Western practicality and materialism. Lacking in traditional Chinese cultivation. Whole lotta girls, whole lotta variety, very few diamonds.

Xinghai Conservatory and Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts
Stylish and fashionable. Lots of personality. Open-minded and bohemian, almost to the point of disbelief. The beauties are seductive and glamorous. The lesser ones are clownish. Not so pure.

Guangzhou University
Cutting edge pop culture and style. A caricature of contemporary Guangzhou women. Heavy makeup. More mature than their actual age.

Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine
Professionally cultivated. Delicate and reserved. Average appearance across the board. Rare to even see a slightly prettier one.

Guangdong University of Medicine
Some are okay. Not much substance or cultivation.

South China University of Technology
A combination of logic and artistry. When mixed well, a rare beauty! Gone wrong, a dinosaur.

Guangdong University of Technology
Not worth discussing. A total disaster area of desperate horny men with no relief in sight.

Hear the original (in Cantonese)：

广州大学城十校女生大评点[以下所述基于实地考察加些许主观感受]

中大:颇有修养.略显感性.不过相貌趋向平凡.不够塑.
华师:颇有情操.带些许内涵.不过有全民村姑面孔倾向.靓女指数不足.
广外:思想现代.彰显西方现实性之open.略欠传统道德修养.女生密度大.但鱼龙混杂.精品不多。
星海广美:打扮很in 极具个性.带常人无法理解之艺术性开放.美者妖艳.丑则滑突.缺乏纯情.
广大:很潮很in 恰似广州现代女性开放之缩影.浓妆重抹.带与年龄不相称之成熟.
广中医:颇具专业修养.文静而温情.相貌平平而稍靓.极品甚少见.
广药:中低档次的美丽.素质上略显底气不足.
华工:理科睿智与文科秀气之结合.结合得好则为人间尤物.不好则恐龙托世.
广工:免谈.一个男生性饥渴的重灾区

Instead, I thought I’d call up my brother, a hotshot digital artist at Dreamworks Animation. He was on the team that created Kung Fu Panda and the recent Monsters vs. Aliens. After watching it, here’s what he had to say:

“The fact that this was done by one person is very very impressive. That being said, the visual quality and art direction are inconsistent (some things are much higher quality then the rest), the FX are pretty decent for the most part. The lighting seems to only use key lights, no fills or bounce lights, and the compositing is kinda weird. The models are too low res for alot of the close ups. The character animation and acting is actually really bad (lacking in alot of the 12 principles of animation such as ease in and ease out, overlapping action, line of action, etc.) The cinematography is not too good either, alot of confusing camera cuts. The use of Toon shading with semi realistic shading is also quite jarring.

The concept is also very cool. This person would make a good candidate for an FX artist.”

I am, curiously enough, a big NFL fan. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of getting smothered playing football at the local park with neighborhood kids. However, it is not a popular sport in China. Teamwork, strategy and controlled violence are probably not things to be encouraged, all things considered. With the 2009-10 NFL season now underway, I thought I’d take a moment to dissect the Chinese translation of team names. As with most foreign names, the Chinese either translates the meaning, transliterates the sound or does both.

AFC

East
Buffalo Bills水牛城比尔队 : Bi-er (sound)
Miami Dolphins迈阿密海豚 : Dolphins
New England Patriots新英格兰爱国者 : Patriotic People (lost the heroic overtone)
New York Jets纽约喷气机 : Jet Engine (not the whole plane, just the engine)

South
Houston Texans休斯顿德克萨斯人 : Texans
Indianapolis Colts印第安那小马 : Little Horse (the Chinese word for Colt is cuter)
Jacksonville Jaguars杰克逊维尔美洲虎 : Jaguar
Tennessee Titans田纳西泰坦 : Titan

West
Denver Broncos丹佛野马 : Bronco
Kansas City Chiefs堪萨斯城酋长 : Tribal Chief
Oakland Raiders奥克兰袭击者 : Surprise Attackers (beware of them in bathrooms)
San Diego Chargers 圣地亚哥电光 : Electric Bolts (Shazam!)

North
Baltimore Ravens巴尔的摩乌鸦 : Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals辛辛纳提孟加拉虎 : Bengals
Cleveland Browns克利夫兰布朗 : Bu-lang (sound)
Pittsburgh Steelers匹兹堡钢人 : Steel People (Not Village People)

NFC

East
Dallas Cowboys达拉斯牛仔 : Cowboys
New York Giants纽约巨人 : Giants
Philadelphia Eagles费城老鹰 : Eagles
Washington Redskins华盛顿红皮肤 : Red Skin (just red skin)

South
Atlanta Falcons亚特兰大猎鹰 : Falcons
Carolina Panthers卡罗莱纳黑豹 : Panthers
New Orleans Saints新奥尔良圣徒 : Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers坦帕湾海盗 : Bay Pirates

West
Arizona Cardinals亚利桑那红雀 : Cardinals
San Francisco 49ers旧金山49人 : The “49″ People (doesn’t bode well for the 76ers)
Seattle Seahawks西雅图海鹰 ：Seahawks
St. Louis Rams圣路易斯公羊 ：Rams

North
Chicago Bears芝加哥熊 : Bears
Detroit Lions底特律雄狮 : Lions
Green Bay Packers绿湾包装工 : The Packaging Workers**
Minnesota Vikings明尼苏达维京人 : Vikings

As we can see, the majority of the team names are meaning translations. In general, the spirit of the name is conveyed in its new language. However, differences in cultural background and history occasionally lead to odd results.

What have we learned? Number one rule: avoid Cowboys and Indians. The American frontiersmen and his clashes with Native Americans didn’t translate successfully with the Redskins, Chiefs or the Bills. America’s Team the Cowboys managed to come out okay though.

Ancillary rule: stick to ferocious animals.

* Thanks to NFL China for providing team names.

** If you or anyone you know would like to become a Packaging Worker, please click here.

Chinese Waiter: (in perfect English) Would you like to try the horse meat sashimi?
American Blond: (in perfect English) Uhmmm, like, no thanks.

Chinese Waiter: (with a condescending sneer) Oh that’s right, you ride horses, not eat them.
American Blond: (with an airy ambivalence) Like, whatever.

*Special thanks to Lindsay for this horse meat nugget.

In the eyes of many Chinese, Guangdong is the “Desert of Culture”. Even in its Capital-Guangzhou, favorite outdoor activities for many local people are KTV and shopping. Well, to be fair, Guangzhou has quite active an art sphere. It’s just that artists here in town tend to keep a low profile. While New York’s SOHO, Beijing’s 798 and Shanghai’s M50 have been made into a place of tourist interest, Guangzhou’s counterpart-Xing Fang 60, remains a tribe reserved mostly for modern artists. 

Xing Fang 60 was originally a machine factory built and owned by the Guangzhou Municipal Government group in the 1970s. However, the same as many other state owned factories in that period, Xing Fang 60 went bankrupt later on, leaving 20,000 square meters of construction area in waste.

Lin Qing, the current owner of Xing Fang 60, bought it over and planned to build a private badminton club on this land. But all the proposals he had for the badminton club were not at all satisfactory to him. Inspired by the “Heart-breaking Utopia” reconstructed from an old factory - a story in the popular TV series “STRUGGLE”, Lin found artistic elements in the rusty pipes and yellowish grease of this abandoned factory, and turned the place into creative/advant-garde design studios, art exhibitions halls, Central Perk (The café where FRIENDS sit and gossip) style bars, extreme sport clubs…you name it. In the following paragraphs, I will try my best to show you this “Art Incubator” of Guangzhou.
 

1. Pingpong Bar and Pingpong Space

Pingpong Bar (as shown in the picture on the left) is a small place with minimum decoration. Nonetheless, it doesn’t stop well-mannered handsome guys and friendly pretty girls coming for the advant-garde play nights, according to its initiator, Qiu Qiu. “People coming for the advant-garde play nights do not necessarily understand the plays. Still, they can talk to those who understand as they like.”

Right on the opposite side of the road from Pingpong Bar is Pingpong Space (as shown in the picture on the right). Though renovated last year, Pingpong Space managed to remain its nostalgic settings and attracted exhibitions of video, gadgets, performance art, music and sculpture.
 

2.    The Wolves
The Wolves…creepy, isn’t it? It is the name of the biggest SUV club in Southern China.

Why Wolves? You might wonder. The reason is, all club members have to name themselves “?? wolf”. For example, the club owner himself is called the “Lone wolf”. They have other club members called “Bewitching wolf”, “Rainbow Wolf”, “Jungle Wolf”, colour wolf..etc. The Wolves was founded in 1994. Many senior club members are fanatic SUV fans who have explored all over China with their SUVs.

Members in this SUV club may all be all “elites” in society, but when they finish a day’s work and gather in this club, they sit and talk like a common bunch of friends, sharing driving tips, watching videos, downing beers, champagne, just plain relaxation. Even if you are not a “wolf”, you are also welcome to join the group and share adventurous stories with the wolves.
 

 3.     Design Studios
 

Frenchmen Rock/Stone (I literally translated it from 法国人石头.) fell in love with Xing Fang 60 when he designed it, and set his studio in this old factory right afterwards. Various graphic designers, interior designers, industrial designers, image designers and fashion designers have also joined the Design Studios family.
 

4.      Recording Studios
If you want to have a look at Guangzhou musicians’ life, you can go straight in professional recording studios that have already homed in Xing Fang 60, e.g. Fang Yi, Graffiti, and Dodecahedron. Many Xinghai Conservatory graduates come here to record music for their bands. These studios provide services like recording and band accompaniment for ordinary people as well as professional singers and music students. The charge is about  RMB 3000 per piece, or RMB 10,000+ per CD.

Lin Qing has also purchased another old factory right next to Xing Fang 60. “It will be a tremendous base for underground brands and original local music producers”, said Lin.

Address: No.60, Xian Lie Dong Heng Lu (Near the back gate of Xinghai Conservatory) 先烈东横路60号（星海音乐学院后门）Xian1 Lie4 Dong1 Heng2 Lu4 60 Hao4 （Xing1 Hai3 Yin1 Yue4 Xue2 Yuan4 Hou4 Men2)

(Source: Nanfang Daily, Xing Fang 60 )

Gong Li became a Singaporean

Buckin the trend, Edward Lu is a 27 year old Singaporean living and working here in Guangzhou, China, who is also in the process of applying for a Chinese Permanent Residence. I have a chat with him to find out his motivations..

Interview with Edward Lu, Singaporean Entrepreneur in GZ

Junde(JD): Hoseh boh? 
Edward(ED): Sibei swee. Can start the interview or not?
 
JD: Ok. Can you tell us how you landed here in Guangzhou?
ED: I was born In Singapore, and graduated with a Diploma in Business from Ngee Ann Polytechnic specializing in Leisure Management. I performed National Service for 2.5 years and came to China directly after that in early 2004. After working for a year in a Singaporean-Taiwanese venture company in Guangzhou, I established own company providing international logistics and trading services from China. Our company has offices/warehouses in Guangzhou, Yiwu and Singapore.
 

JD: Why are you going against the wave, applying for a Chinese PR?
ED: I do it mainly for practical business reasons. Firstly as a Chinese PR you pay less tax. Next, to set up new businesses, you do not need to partner with a local to register the company. Finally, you no longer need any working or travel visa to enter/stay in the country.
 

JD: Very practical benefits. How does one qualify?
ED: Basically, you need to have stayed in China for a few years, with a substantial local investment and revenue record for at least 3 years. Alternatively, you can marry a local person, and you get PR after 5 years of happy marriage.
 
JD: Haha, second route sounds more interesting. Do you intend to marry a local girl? How do you compare local Chinese girls with Singaporean girls?
ED: Why not? If the right person comes along. My career here has taken off and I’m definitely looking forward to my next phase of life. From my limited personal experiences, I find that the local girls I have encounterd are more gentle, and less career-minded. This is not to say that the opposite of Singaporean girls is a negative thing. Singapore is a modern, well-developed and highly competitive country and it is only natural that people would be more materialistic. I am a materialistic person myself too, but I get them cheaper in China :p
 
JD: If you get married here, would you like to have your children educated here?
ED: I would prefer the education in Singapore. Some say that our education there is very influenced by government propaganda, but I think it depends on the individual. I like the way I turned out and with some luck I’ll like the way my kids grow up and turn out in Singapore too. Besides, education without subsidy here is expensive!
 
JD: How about doing business here? How is it different from Singapore?
ED: To a certain extent, the Singapore retail market is saturated. If you sell 100 plates of Chicken Rice today, next month, you might sell 80 plates or 120 plates. It’s +/- 10%. Here in China, if you start of by selling 10 plates in the first month, next month, you might be selling 1000 plates. The growth potential is immense as you are not just catering to the whole Chinese market, but also to all foreign businesses who have turned their attention to China in recent years.
 

Edward praying for stability

JD: What about your personal and social life? Do you like it here?
ED: Yes, definitely. I enjoy the freedom I have here. I don’t seek to participate in politics, all I seek is my personal freedom. As a laowai (technically) out of my hometown, I feel less inhibited, I make more friends and do more things. I also get to smoke in public places and restaurants. The cost of living in Guangzhou is also much cheaper than Singapore, so we get to enjoy a better lifestyle while we’re younger. In Singapore we would need to have worked for a few more years before enjoying the kind of life we lead here today.
 
JD: So you’ve told me about all the practical benefits, and about everything you appreciate about living here in Guangzhou. How much of it is motivation for your Chinese PR application? What does the Chinese PR mean to you?
ED: Frankly, it’s more for practical business benefits. I am not someone who would forget my Singaporean roots. Although I do not have Chinese nationalistic fervour in me, I also do contribute back to society here. For instance, I am sit in the executive committee of the Guangzhou Singapore Club who organises social and charity events for the community here in Guangzhou.
 
JD: Would you encourage more Singaporeans, or expats in general, to follow in your footsteps, to apply for a Chinese PR?
ED: It is up to individual. But most of the foreigners I’ve met here during the past years certainly do enjoy their life and work here, so why not?

 
JD: What is your favourite KTV song?
ED: BETTER MAN by Nicholas Tse

 
JD: Thanks Edward for your time. Interested readers can also read 9 reasons why Singaporeans should work in China..
ED: Fuwuyuan! Mai Dan!

Chinese Male #1: (whistles)
Chinese Male #2: Damn.

Chinese Male #1: That girl is hot.
Chinese Male #2: How did he manage that?

Chinese Male #1: Think about it this way. Even the old, ugly, fat white guys can get good looking girls, right?
Chinese Male #2: Yeah …

Chinese Male #1: So, did you see how white that guy was? He was super white! He can only have a super hot girlfriend.
Chinese Male #2: Good point.